Matthew S. Petersen

Matthew Spencer Petersen (1970-) was a member of the US Federal Election Commission (R) from 24 June 2008, succeeding Hans von Spakovsky; in 2010 and 2016, he was its chairman.

Biography
Matthew Spencer Petersen was born in Torrance, California in 1970, and he graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996. He received his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, and he practiced election and campaign finance law at Wiley Rein LLP in Washington DC from 1999 to 2002. Peterson worked with the government for years before being nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President George W. Bush in 2008. In 2010 and 2016, he served as the FEC's chairman. On 7 September 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Petersen to serve as a US district judge, but he was unable to answer many judicial questions while being interviewed by Senator John Neely Kennedy. On 18 December 2017, after videos of his interview went viral, Peterson withdrew his nomination.